1 Corinthians 10:31

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Monthly Archives: November 2017

Jesus drew large crowds. People noticed his ministry. Among those people who noticed his ministry was John the Baptist. John is the one who baptized Jesus at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. John is recorded to have said about Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b).

John was well-acquainted with Jesus. He knows who Jesus was—or at least he thought he knew who Jesus was. In Luke 7, John appears to be having doubts. He seems to be second-guessing himself.

He calls two of his disciples to himself, and he tells them to bring a message to Jesus. And this is the message that they were told to deliver to Jesus. They were to say,

Luke 7:19bAre you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

It seems like John has lost his nerve. He’s lost his confidence. Does he know who Jesus is? What are we to make of this? Has he lost his nerve? Is his confidence waning? Is he having doubts?

Well, yes, in a way, he is having doubts. But let’s remember a couple of things.

First, let’s remember that John was a man. He was a flesh and blood human being just like any other person. He would’ve been prone to the same emotional ups and downs to which all of us are prone. We sometimes wonder if everything we believe in is really right. We may not have an overwhelming internal battle or an internal angst about our faith, but sometimes we wonder about it all.

We hear about a tragedy striking a small church in a small Texas town and it sends our heads spinning. But this is part of what it is to be a fallen human being. These things happen. From time-to-time, doubts creep in. John was a human being—no different than us.

Second, let’s remember this. John and most of his contemporaries had a mental picture of what they were expecting from their coming Messiah. And Jesus didn’t necessarily check off all the boxes. They were expecting someone who was going to deliver their nation from Roman occupation. They were expecting a military-type leader. They were expecting a political leader.

They were expecting one thing, but in many ways Jesus didn’t meet their expectations. Jesus didn’t appear to be the type of Messiah for whom they’d been waiting.

So, when he has doubts, John goes straight to the source. He sends his disciples to talk to Jesus—to ask Jesus this question.

Luke 7:19bAre you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

And what happens next is interesting. They ask Jesus this question, and then before he verbally answers them, Luke tells us in verse 21 that

Luke 7:21In that hour [Jesus] healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.

Before he says a word of response to John’s disciples, he performs these many miracles right there in front of them. And then, after they’d seen all of these miracles, Jesus answers the disciples and says this, in verses 22 & 23.

Luke 7:22–2322 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

As with all of Jesus’ responses, this is an amazing response. There’s much to learn from it. His reply is instructive to our ears. He’s doing far more here than simply giving a run down on the things he’s been doing. HE’s doing more than sharing his resume. Jesus is alluding to scripture here. Any well-trained Jewish man would have known this. They would have heard Jesus’ words and they would have thought about the prophet Isaiah.

John has a question about whether Jesus is the one for whom they’d been waiting or whether they should wait for someone else. And Jesus replies by pointing John to the scriptures.

In essence, this is what Jesus is saying to John—and to us. “Do you want to know if I’m the one that you’ve been expecting? Do you want to know if I’m that guy? Do you want to know if I’m the long-awaited Messiah? Well, first, you need to forget what you think you know about this person. You need to forget that you think he’s supposed to be a military leader. You need to forget that you think that he’s supposed to be a political leader. You need to forget that you think that he’s supposed to free us from the Romans. Forget all of that and do this one thing. Look and see what the scriptures have to say about your long-awaited Messiah. If you want to know who the Messiah is supposed to be, forget about your individual expectations and turn to the word of God.”

That’s what Jesus is telling John. “If you want to know who the Messiah is supposed to be, forget about your expectations and turn to the word of God.”

That same advice is true today, friends. That same advice!

There are SO MANY people who have their own individual mental pictures about who Jesus is. We’ve created a Savior in our own minds. We think we know what to expect of the Messiah. We think we know what to expect of God’s anointed one.

But sadly, so many times, our idea of what to expect just doesn’t match up with what the Bible teaches. We often have a false idea of who Jesus is.

We have an idea of a Jesus who’ll look the other way at our sin.

We have an idea of a Jesus who’ll just sweep our sin under the rug.

We have an idea of a Jesus who was really good man, but not God in the flesh.

We have an idea of a Jesus who cares more about outward appearance rather than issues relating to the heart.

We often have these and other false ideas about who Jesus really is. We’d do well to ask the same question that John is asking. Are you the one, Jesus? Are the one that came to take away our sins? We’d do well to ask these questions and then turn to the Word of God to find the answer.

God loved us enough that he didn’t leave us without a written record of who he is.

It’s important that we believe in the right Jesus. You may believe in a Jesus of your imagination, but that Jesus can’t save you. Only the real Jesus can save you. Do you believe in the real Jesus?

Search the Word of God and learn who Jesus really is, and believe on that Jesus.

As Jesus makes his way into the town of Nain (Luke 7), he’s greeted by a funeral procession. In ancient Israel, it would have been customary to bury the deceased soon after death. There weren’t any long waiting periods like today’s funerals. And unlike modern funerals and unlike the ancient Egyptians, there were no embalming techniques used. The body would have been put in the ground right away. No coffin. Just the body wrapped in material.

So, as Jesus makes his way into the town, he’s greeted by this sad sight. But what makes this situation all the more sad is that the dead man is the only son of a widowed woman. Her husband is already dead. And now her only son has died as well.

Now, to our ears, we hear this as very sad news. We feel bad for this woman, but we’re sure glad that society has “safety nets” built in to help this grieving widow. We’re glad that she’ll have access to social security. We’re glad that she’ll have access to Medicare. We’re glad that there’s an assisted-living apartment complex in her county. Now, that her family is gone, we’re so glad that she’s going to have access to these and other helpful services.

But wait a minute, she didn’t live in 21st century America, she lived in 1st century Israel. There wasn’t any social security. There wasn’t any Medicare. There weren’t any assisted living apartments. This widow would have been on her own. She would have been at the mercy of society around her. She had no standing in society for herself. So, this is more than an only son dying. This is a matter of life and death for this widow as well. The whole town knew it. That’s why there was such a large crowd with her.

But notice how Jesus reacts to this widow.

Luke 7:13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

His first reaction toward the woman was one of compassion. I hope we see something of the character of God here. Our God is a God of compassion. He cares for his creation. Maybe your idea of God is someone who’s vengeful, someone who keeps score, someone who’s going to let you get what’s coming to you. But that’s not who God is.

When Jesus sees this woman, his first reaction is that of compassion. Our God is a God of compassion. He cares for the widow and the orphan.

And then he tells her not to weep. Now if the story ended there, we’d wonder why he would say something like that to this grieving mother. After all, if anyone has a reason to weep, this woman sure does. She has plenty of reason to weep.

But then Jesus does something remarkable. He comes up to the funeral procession and touches the bier. The bier would have been a flat board on which they would have been carrying the wrapped-up body. He touches the bier and at that moment, he becomes ceremonially unclean. A good Jewish boy would have known better than to touch the plank which was carrying a dead body. Jesus is now unclean. But Jesus isn’t worried about ceremonial uncleanness. After all, he’s moved with compassion for this widow.

But it gets better. After the funeral procession had stopped, Jesus begins to speak to the dead person. Now the crowd thinks he’s nuts, right? I mean you don’t talk to dead people unless your nuts. Dead people don’t listen that well. He says to the dead man, “Young man, I say to you, arise” (7:14b).

And then the craziest thing happens. Verse 15, “The dead man sat up and began to speak” (7:15a). WHAT!!!??

Yes, at the sound of his voice, the dead man was made alive again.

And do you want to know something amazing? Jesus is still in the business of bringing life where there was death. Where once there was spiritual death, now Jesus makes alive. As you place your faith in him, he takes you from spiritual death into spiritual life.

Have you experienced that transformation from spiritual death to spiritual life?

And after he raised the young man to life, the crowd was amazed. Luke writes,

Luke 7:16Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

In Deuteronomy 18, Moses old the people that there would one day come a prophet greater than him. This prophet would visit God’s people. For over a thousand years, the people of Israel had been waiting for this promise to be fulfilled.

And that’s what happened with Jesus. A great prophet had arisen among God’s people. But Jesus was more than a prophet. God had visited his people.

Do you remember what the angel told Mary to call her baby? You “‘shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:23b).

God was with his people. God had visited his people, and the people were rejoicing.

I wonder how you’d react if your favorite singer or your favorite actor or your favorite athlete showed up at your front door today. Would you “ooh and awe”? Would you ask for an autograph? Would you take a selfie?

Well, friends, somebody far better than any singer or actor or athlete who’s ever lived has come to live among us. His name is Jesus.

Wow! This question may as well have been asked today in the church. For the last 30-years there has existed a debate within the church over an issue that is called “Lordship salvation.”

Here’s the crux of the issue. Must Jesus be your Savior AND Lord for you to be saved? OR can he be your Savior now and then at some later time you can commit yourself to his Lordship?

Those who argue in favor of Lordship Salvation—that is, in the necessity of confessing Jesus as Savior AND Lord—they argue that not to do so is to invite people who unrepentantly practice sin to think that they have the assurance of salvation when, in point of fact, they shouldn’t have any assurance of salvation.

On the other hand, those who are against Lordship Salvation—that is, that Jesus can be your Savior first and then at some later time, he can become your Lord—well, they argue that Lordship Salvation is adding “works” to salvation. They say that we’re saved by grace alone and through faith alone.

We should agree that we’re saved by grace alone and through faith alone, but we should also agree with James, that we’re saved by a faith that doesn’t remain alone. We’re saved by a faith that produces good works. That means Christ must be our Savior AND Lord. It’s what the scriptures demand.

In Acts 16, the Philippian jailer asks Paul and Silas what he has to do to be saved. Here’s their response.

Acts 16:31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Now, there’s an evangelistic moment that’s hard to miss. You have someone coming up to you and asking you what he needs to do to be saved.

And notice what they tell him, “Believe in Jesus and you’ll be saved.” Right? Is that what they say—“believe in Jesus and you’ll be saved”?

No, that’s not what they said. They tell the jailer, “Believe in the LORD Jesus and you will be saved.” It’s not enough to simply believe in Jesus—in a Jesus of your own making—but we need believe in who Jesus is. He’s the Lord Jesus. No other Jesus can save you. Only the Lord Jesus can save you.

Here’s another scripture. This one is from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.

Romans 10:9–109 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Just to state the obvious. Did you see what we need confess in order to be saved? We need to confess Jesus IS LORD. If you want to be saved, you need to confess that Jesus is Lord.

Now, making that confession doesn’t mean that from that moment on, that you’re going to live your life in perfect obedience to Jesus. No, that’s not what it means.

As long as we walk on this earth, we will be going through a process called sanctification. We’ll be learning every day what it means to follow Christ in obedience. Some days we’ll do a really good job, and other days, we’ll do a lousy job.

But confessing Jesus as Lord means that we recognize that we’re not in charge of our lives any more. It means that we recognize that Jesus is in charge of our lives. He is our Lord.

By virtue of what he did on the cross—through his death, burial, and resurrection—by virtue of who he is—he is God in the flesh—by virtue of what he’s done and by virtue of who he is, we confess him as our Lord and we seek to live our lives in obedience to him.

Will there be times in my life when we stubbornly refuse to do what Jesus has told us to do. Yes, there will be those times. In the ongoing work of our sanctification—that is, in the ongoing work of God conforming us into the image of his Son Jesus—in that ongoing work there will be times when we will stubbornly give into sin and there will be times when we achieve victory over sin in our lives.

But the trajectory is always upward. The trajectory is always in submission to the Lordship of Christ. It’s a day-by-day decision. It’s a moment-by-moment decision. So, Jesus asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

And then after asking that question, Jesus tells a story in verses 47–49 to bring the point home. Allow me to paraphrase.

There are two people. One person comes to Jesus and confesses him as Lord and actually does what Jesus tells him to do. Jesus tells us that he is like a house that has a strong, firm foundation of rock. When the storms of this life come, he won’t be shaken because his foundation is Jesus.

The other guy is someone who confesses Jesus as Lord—that is, he says the right things—but he doesn’t actually do what Jesus tells him to do. This guy, when he builds his house, his house doesn’t have a foundation. When the storms of life come against his house, there’s going to be a great disaster. This house is going to crash and Jesus says, “the ruin of that house was great” (6:49b).

So, now we should ask ourselves these questions.

In which house do we live? Which house represents our life?

Is our life characterized by doing what Jesus has told us to do through his Word or is our life characterized by a lack of obedience to God and his word?

We’re not suggesting that anybody’s perfect, but is our life characterized by a desire to do what Jesus has commanded us to do?